I remember sitting down to dinner when we were kids and my Mom asking each of us: “What did you learn in school today?”
And we’d say, “I don’t know.”
I’m not sure how this scene played out in your house. I imagine most experienced something similar. I can’t help but think back to those days now when I get back from a class weekend. Today my mom asks me how school was and 30 minutes later I’m still going… And she’s wondering where’s the middle?!
I won’t bore you with too many details here, but I thought I’d share a few of my favorite “fun facts” from the weekend. Classes were taught by Joy Bauer (Today Show nutritionist), Dr. Andrew Weil (MD, Harvard grad, Integrative Medicine pioneer), Dr. Barry Sears (creator of The Zone diet), and Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D. (founder of The Natural Gourmet Culinary Institute). They covered inflammation, food and mood, arthritis, heart health, cravings, headaches, and bone health.
Here’s my version of a Top Ten list….
- Every hour of walking increase your life span by 2 hours.
- Every pound that’s lost alleviates four pounds of stress on joints.
- More than 2 servings of fish per week reduces your risk of heart disease by 23 percent.
- A red bell pepper has 300 mg of vitamin C. That’s more than 3 times that’s in an orange.
- Adequate levels of vitamin D protect from colds and flu. We get less exposure to vitamin D in the winter so we are more susceptible to the flu.
- There is no toxicity risk for vitamin D from sun exposure and food because the body only makes as much as it needs.
- It’s the polyphenols in red wine that protect us from inflammation. Two glasses of red wine is equal to 10 servings of vegetables.
- Our bones are constantly being built up and broken down. It’s thought that they replace themselves every 10 years.
- Bones are made up of 65% calcium and 35% collagen (or protein). The calcium makes them hard. The collagen makes them flexible. You need both for strong, healthy bones.
- Other important nutrients for bones are vitamin D, A, C, K, phosphorous, magnesium, healthy fats and trace minerals.
And some good quotes from the weekend….
“It’s not about being healthy, it’s about what being healthy allows you to do.” – Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
“If you can control inflammation, you can control chronic disease.” – Dr. Barry Sears
“Food is powerful!” – Joy Bauer, nutritionist
“Health is an inner quality of bounciness. We are born with it but it’s up to us to protect it.” – Dr. Andrew Weil
I’ll drink (a glass of red) to that! 🙂
love this post.
-hale
haha- the above post was from me. looks like my computer was still logged into your ‘blogger’ account.
so – comment still stands 🙂
love you!
haha, oops. thanks, hale! love you!
Page Young sent me a link to your blog. I’m enjoying perusing your recipes! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Eloise. I’m perusing your blog right now – love it! You know, I think Page sent it to me way back when… bookmarking it now. 🙂
love this one too…. think of all the hours we have added on to our lives, just by living on the trail? and think of all those days we didn’t think we got enough veggies, but really we had 10 servings since we drank all that red wine.